SF law forces commissioners running for office to quit — so far it applies to one person

San Francisco District Attorney candidate Joe Alioto Veronese walks son, Augustus Alioto Veronese,10, to school on Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2019 in San Francisco, Calif. Veronese will have to resign his seat on the city’s Fire Commission if he continues his campaign.

Photo: Amy Osborne / Special to The Chronicle

San Francisco Fire Commissioner Joe Alioto Veronese reaffirmed his intent to run for district attorney Friday, which means that by the end of next month, he’ll have to abandon his seat on the panel.

That’s because of a newly enacted law — Proposition B — that voters approved in June mandating that appointed members of city boards and commissions forfeit their seats when they decide to run for elected office. Prop. B passed with nearly 70 percent of the vote.

The measure, championed by District Three Supervisor Aaron Peskin, was meant to prevent commissioners from using their positions to help attract campaign donations while campaigning, which could present a conflict of interest.

On Friday, the city’s Elections Department began sending out letters notifying candidates running for office in the Nov. 5 election that if they sit on a city commission, they’ll have until March 26 to choose to either keep their seat or run for office.

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This fall, voters will cast ballots for mayor, treasurer, sheriff, district attorney and the District Five seat on the Board of Supervisors.

But it appears Alioto Veronese is the only candidate planning to run for office in November who’ll have to vacate a seat on a city commission.

One of Alioto Veronese’s rivals in the district attorney’s race, Leif Dautch, left the Juvenile Probation Commission in July, according to public records. District Five candidate Shanell Williams sits on the City College Board of Trustees, but that’s not a commission covered by Prop. B.

Alioto Veronese said Friday that he felt singled out by the measure. Critics of Prop. B said at the time that it was unfair to force commission members to forfeit their seats when running for office and that it shrank the pool of potentially qualified candidates for local offices.

“I’m honored that Supervisor Peskin would think of me in such a way to pass a law that applies only to me,” he said sarcastically. “People have fears of me being district attorney.”

He was appointed to the Fire Commission by then-Mayor Ed Lee in 2017.

Incidentally, Peskin and District 11 Supervisor Ahsha Safaí filed this week to run for re-election next year.

Dominic Fracassa covers San Francisco City Hall for The Chronicle. He previously worked as a reporter and editor for the Daily Journal, a legal affairs newspaper. He started in news in his home state of Michigan, where he worked as a news director of 103.9 WLEN.